By fielding three Race Touareg vehicles, Volkswagen is tackling another new challenge in cross-country rally racing while preparing for the 2009 Dakar Rally: The second rally of the Dakar series, which will lead through Portugal from 09 to 14 September, will be contested by the factory duos of Carlos Sainz/Michel Prin (E/F), Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (RSA/D) and Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D) with the diesel prototype that has already been victorious twice in 2008. The rally from Lisbon to Portimo will feature approximately 1,000 timed kilometres on five competition days.

In April 2008, the Volkswagen Duo Sainz/Prin had won the first rally of the Dakar series, the Central Europe Rally through Hungary and Romania. The German duo Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk in its first... // marathonrally.com